Our 9 day outdoor adventure tour in the Azores, Portugal, transports you to the immense beauty of the natural landscape. Active travelers interested in island culture and activities will find a match here. Activities include trekking, biking and kayaking to name just a few. Here you’ll find islands with tropical characteristics but European character. You can walk, bike or boat during the day, then sit down to a great meal with fine (and sometimes local) wines at night.

We’ve planned a great itinerary where we’ll visit 4 different islands and engage in a combination of unique day trips, sometimes walking interior or coastal trails, other times biking from village to village and at other times taking half day easy kayak trips either along the spectacular and rugged coastline or on the interesting and beautiful interior crater lakes. In the evening we’ll normally retire to a local hotel or B&B and enjoy a fine meal. On a couple of the trips we will have the option to spend the night out camping in order to experience some truly special places.

Still not sold? Soak in these fun facts about the Azores along with some eye-candy that’ll give you a glimpse of what you’ll experience while walking, biking & paddling through the Azores.

Fun Facts:

The Azores are a group of nine volcanic islands spread over 370 miles in the North Atlantic Ocean.

Although they are located about 850 miles west of continental Portugal, the Azores are an autonomous region of Portugal, the same status as the Portuguese island of Madeira.

Year-round temperatures in the Azores range between 57°F and 71°F.

The Azores were detailed on a The Catalan Atlas drawn and written in 1375, but the islands were officially “discovered” in in 1431 by Gonçalo Velho Cabral. São Miguel was first settled in 1444, under the command of Cabral – at the site of modern-day Povoação.

As early as the 1600’s, the Azores began getting overpopulated, resulting in Azoreans immigrating to Brazil, Uruguay, the United States and Canada.

Religious festivals, patron saints and traditional holidays are important to the Azorean people, who are primarily Roman Catholic. Azoreans celebrate Carnival (a festive season that occurs before Lent, usually in February) with parades, pageants lively music, colorful costumes, hand-made masks, floats, bullfights and the running of bulls in the streets.

In the 1750’s, tea leaf was found growing in the wild in the Azores. Commercial tea production in the Azores began in the 1870’s and continues today. The Azores’ tea-drying process using the fresh ocean air gives its green teas a unique fragrant scent when they are brewed.

Just before the start of the Iraq War in 2003, the Azores was the location for a summit meeting of United States President George W. Bush, British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Spanish Prime Minister José María Aznar, and Portuguese Prime Minister José Manuel Durão Barroso.

Author Mark Twain visited Horta in 1867 during his “Great Pleasure Excursion” cruise through Europe and the Holy Land on board the chartered Quaker City ship with a group of Americans. Twain humorously chronicled his journey including his time in the Azores in his “The Innocents Abroad” book published in 1869.

Winemaking in the Azores dates back to the 15th century, as Catholic religious orders planted vineyards as soon as they arrived. While all nine of Azorean islands originally had vineyards, disease outbreaks during the 1850s devastated most. Today wine grapes are grown on the islands of Pico, Terceira and Graciosa

Browse trips

Our happy clients

I was hoping that you could thank [Brian and Matt] again for us and let them know what a remarkable experience they facilitated for my wife and I. We will certainly remember it for a lifetime. We had so much fun that we can hardly decide what trip to do next.

Jeremy Miller

The meals!! Exceptional, varied, delicious and nutritious come to mind. Meals are never an ‘afterthought’ with highlights including such as sushi on the river bank featuring freshly caught Arctic char, cheese fondue, chocolate fondue … each meal offers something to look forward to at the end of a hard paddling day.

Merrilyn Lindsay business owner

I have known and paddled with Shawn since 1974. He is an amazing guide and canoeist and I have canoed with him from Northern Ontario to the far Arctic, east to west coast. I lead my own local Ontario canoe trips every year, but when I want a guided remote wilderness adventure, there is none better than Shawn and Wanapitei Canoe to take me there.

David Wilkie, DVM professor and veterinarian

I did my first big canoe trip with Wanapitei in 1980 and had a wonderful experience. I have done many since and always have enjoyed the good leadership, organization, and company on each one, not to mention the great rivers.

Peter Milliken, PC lawyer and politician

Paddling the Hess River with Shawn this summer was a thrill and the adventure of a lifetime. The river, country, wildlife, and as important, the people on the trip were all a superb. The whole experience was first rate and an inspiration to do more.

Didier Maclaine Pont invester/paddler

After not having canoed since my teen years, I was excited but nervous about taking up my paddle again in midlife. Shawn’s skill and experience made my trip with him one of the best I could have imagined. I highly recommend his trips.

James Gardner vp – marketing

I had an incredible time—nothing short of amazing! I’ll be back, as they say.